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Robert Dardano

Robert Dardano and Warren Friske were trusted
members of the Boston mission of the Church of
Scientology in the mid-1970s when they say they were
recruited to join a group of other church members intent
on carrying out "dirty tricks" against critics and
others deemed enemies of the church in this area.

The
activities of the group included break-ins, the theft of
documents, harassment and misrepresentation, according
to sworn testimony by Dardano in Florida last year and
affidavits from him and Friske on file as part of
pending civil litigation in Suffolk Superior Court and
US District Court in Boston.

In separate interviews with The Globe, Dardano and
Friske - both of whom are now assisting Michael J.
Flynn, a Boston lawyer who represents almost three dozen
Scientology defectors around the country - expanded on
those affidavits. They said their efforts were part of a
nationwide church campaign to gain incriminating
evidence on its critics, as well as to gather
intelligence on law enforcement agencies and media
outlets, both of which they said the church considered
threats.

Leaders of the Church of Scientology of Boston
refused to be interviewed about the allegations raised
in the documents and interviews.

However, through its lawyer, Harvey A. Silverglate,
the church said in a letter to The Globe that it is
investigating the charges made by Dardano and Friske to
determine if they are true, and what role, if any,
others in the church might have played in the
activities. But Silverglate said that from the church
investigation so far "it appears quite clear" that
Dardano and Friske were acting without the authorization
of the church and contrary to church policy.

Silverglate wrote that if law enforcement authorities
investigate and confirm the allegations, "the church
stands ready and willing to cooperate with such
authorities to achieve justice."

Dardano, 32, of Dorchester, was a member of the
church from 1972 to 1975, and for part of that time was
involved in intelligence gathering and "dirty tricks."
Friske, a member of the church from 1972 to 1982, said
he was head of internal security for the Boston church
and the custodian of its most sensitive files. He is 35
and now lives in Lynn.

The activities that Dardano and Friske alleged in
interviews, affidavits, depositions or other sworn
testimony that they and others were involved with on
behalf of the church include:

The burglary of the Belmont office of a
psychiatrist in 1975 in order to steal the doctor's
files on one of his patients, who had written a book
highly critical of Scientology.

The theft of documents from the Boston law firm
of Bingham, Dana and Gould, counsel for The Boston
Globe, in late 1974 as part of a plan to monitor the
newspaper's preparation of a Sunday Magazine article
on the church.

The systematic theft and destruction of books
critical of the church from libraries throughout New
England.

The planting of a church member as a volunteer
inside the state attorney general's office to
intercept consumer complaints about Scientology.
They said the volunteer also used his position to
call other law enforcement agencies around the
country to elicit information the agencies had on
the church.

In addition, according to Scientology documents and
interviews with Friske and Dardano, some members of the
church were also engaged in a campaign to discredit a
member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School,
psychiatrist John Clark Jr.,
who has done extensive research into cults and who has
frequently spoken out against Scientology. [...]

[...] The people that were in the Better Business
Bureau would interrupt complaints coming from
public people about the Church. And, basically, it
was turned right around and sent right back to the public with no
satisfaction, although the public felt they were being satisfied because
they had reached someone in the Better Business Bureau.

The Attorney
General's Office agent was — he had uncovered a
couple of attacks coming from public people. And
his cover was finally blown by the fact that he
requested information on the Church from the
Justice Department. This — Mr. Mayer mentioned
Bill Foster's name before. Bill Foster was the
head of this — he was the captain of this
particular group, and he had been there since
1971. He was operating the overt data/covert
data collections from '71 to '76 in Boston. And
it wasn't until George Bristol's cover was blown
at the Attorney General's Office that the line
was disbanded and the group of seven people were
sent to different parts of the country. [...]

The — it was very difficult for a public person
in Boston to make a complaint about the Church
and have it go anywhere. We had all the bases
covered. They couldn't — if they called the
Attorney General's Office, George Bristol was sitting there and he's
handling all Scientology cases. So, it was just "Fine, ma'am, we'll take
care of it," and it wouldn't go anywhere from there.

Anything that
was even a hint or a mention of Scientology was
brought out, as much information as — we would
immediately look into that individual that brought
up the issue of Scientology and he was completely
investigated to find out what he did. We put people
under surveillance to find out where they were going
and what they would do. [...]

[...] 4. My first assignment was for a group in the G.O.
called "O.D.C.", Overt Data Collections. Four to five
people worked in O.D.C. Our responsibility included
collecting information and data on various people and
interest groups including Mayor Kevin White, the heads
of various banks in Boston, members of Congress, the
Massachusetts Senate, owners and operators of radio and
T.V. stations, lawyers, judges, etc. [...]